


(K)night Rocker

by FalCatrecon



Series: Gadgets [6]
Category: Knight Rider (1982)
Genre: M/M, Multi, Other, car!Michael
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-25
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:08:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26018551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FalCatrecon/pseuds/FalCatrecon
Summary: Michael had thought it was going to be simple, but the longer he listened to Devon the more he realized he wasn’t sure exactly what was going on. “So wait. Just why can’t it be KITT again?”Devon sighed and tapped the file on his desk. “They would know him on sight. Whilehemight not be a player anymore, Garthe’s men weren’t all captured and the remainder know that black pontiac form rather well.” He frowned slightly. “I am not entirely happy with this either, but you would be more optimal than having the scientist himself do this.”“Okay.” Sinking into the chair across the desk, Michael sighed. “Are yousurethe tech will do this? That I’ll be fine afterwards?” He trusted Devon with his life, but this was still technically experimental.
Relationships: KITT/Michael Knight (1982), KITT/Michael Knight/Devon Miles
Series: Gadgets [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1517000
Comments: 5
Kudos: 14
Collections: The Hoff Bingo





	(K)night Rocker

Michael had thought it was going to be simple, but the longer he listened to Devon the more he realized he wasn’t sure exactly what was going on. “So wait. Just why can’t it be KITT again?”

Devon sighed and tapped the file on his desk. “They would know him on sight. While _he_ might not be a player anymore, Garthe’s men weren’t all captured and the remainder know that black pontiac form rather well.” He frowned slightly. “I am not entirely happy with this either, but you would be more optimal than having the scientist himself do this.”

“Okay.” Sinking into the chair across the desk, Michael sighed. “Are you _sure_ the tech will do this? That I’ll be fine afterwards?” He trusted Devon with his life, but this was still technically experimental.

Devon’s smile in return was soft. “At this point Michael, I would do my best to never put you in danger. Aside from my own feelings, I rather do believe KITT would kill me.”

Michael snorted in laughter. “Yeah, maybe. It would depend on if it was my fault or not.” He leaned forward, spinning the file around so he could see it. Not that he understood most of the scientific jargon on it, but the diagrams looked cool at least. He hefted a sigh and pushed the sheets back to Devon. “I guess let’s turn me into a car.”

\-------

As far as he understood it, which wasn’t much if he was to be honest, his mind would be transferred into a sort of technical rig like KITT’s, allowing him to drive the car and do pretty much anything and everything KITT did. Then would come the easy part, playing bait. He was going to be lightly guarded as he went on a ‘practice drive’ in a leaked predetermined route. He’d get stolen so they could track him and he’d play KITT for a short bit and copy as much data from their systems as he could. He understood enough to know they had a double internal setup so when they disabled his ability to scan the systems he’d have another hidden layer to still do so.

They were going to put him in something he’d have loved to drive as himself. An Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ2, cherry red. Apparently KITT had helped pick it out. The AI had said something along the lines of making the bait even sweeter, but Michael knew perfectly well what KITT liked and that convertible roadster was it. He was going to take a couple of days to learn how to use all it’s systems, and according to KITT the best way to learn was ‘hands on’, which made sense honestly. From what he could understand when he asked KITT how it all worked, he said it was a lot of unconscious systems and then proceeded to ask how Michael walked. He got the point.

Even with Devon’s assurances, he still eyed the setup warily. His body was going to be essentially braindead and hooked up to life support back at the base. It would be absolutely safe, and if Michael had learned anything from KITT, it wasn’t the body that made the man but the mind and personality. He steeled himself and settled on the bed, trying to relax. KITT was surprisingly silent from his wrist, and Devon was waiting by the new car. A little bit of Michael wished he had been here, but he knew it would only be moments before he would see both of them again.

Something the scientists, or maybe it was a medical doctor, did had him feel rather sleepy. His eyes slid shut easily as he sunk into a sense of darkness and sleep.

The sudden stream of information jolted him awake, too much far too fast. He couldn’t sort through any of it until something soft, almost familiar, straightened them out, blocking many of them. ‘ _There you are, Michael._ ’ The words were a caress on his mind as one camera input and speech was left available to access. Devon stood in front of him, KITT not far behind.

Devon knelt closer to the camera, his hand resting on his hood. Michael could actually faintly feel it as a sort of vague pressure. “Is everything all right?”

“As best it can be. God I’m glad KITT is here.” He could feel how pleased KITT was at him saying that. He liked this way of expression and tried tentatively to show his own affection.

KITT’s scanner light swept a little faster. “Careful Michael, you may make me want to keep you this way.”

“Er, sorry.” Michael could tell his own sensor swept back and forth in a sense of embarrassment, so he turned his attention to the matter at hand, mainly trying to sort through the waves of information thankfully kept back by KITT. “I think you were right having me do this so early, Devon. This is a lot to take in.” He carefully reached for another outward facing camera and quickly realized that handling two different directions at once might be more than a human mind could process properly. Eyes didn’t work that way after all. He wasn’t quite sure how he was going to handle the other data inputs he knew were in the array. He did listen to KITT talk after all. He had also listened to Devon and knew a good bit of the extra systems, like the grappling hook and super pursuit mode, weren’t built into this chassis but that earlier basic systems like the turbo boost was. He itched to try them, but if he couldn’t even handle a basic camera setup there was no way he could _drive_.

KITT seemed to do something to his data, arranging it in his mind to look a bit like the dash itself. ‘ _I think if you practice this way, it will become second nature. Now that I can see the patterns in your mind I realize just how flexible biological pathways are._ ’ KITT’s next words were aloud so Devon could hear. “He will do fine. Practice makes perfect after all.”

Michael watched Devon smile in relief. “I’m glad to hear it.” The smile turned teasingly rueful as he looked between the two cars. “I’m starting to feel a bit left out.”

It took a moment, but Michael finally found the input for the doors, and his driver’s side popped open. “We both have room now.” His next words were teasing. “You know you want to come inside me.”

“ _Michael_.” That earned him a hard smack, not that he felt it. He laughed as Devon shook his head, though he couldn’t hide that smile. “With the way you are processing inputs now, how do you think you’d feel if I found the right sensor?” The hand on his hood tapped lightly this time as Devon stood back up.

Michael’s laughter cut off as the words sent a mental tremor through him. He had absolutely no clue what it would feel like, but if KITT’s sounds were anything to go by… He sent a vague inquiry at KITT, who in turn let some of the sensors simply bypass the block he had set up. They felt like so many constant little touches, the air itself sharp, brushing against the equivalent to his nose. He couldn’t help the aborted startup of his engine at the feel. “KITT how do you _deal_ with this?”

“I was designed for it.” There was an almost human-like shrug to his words. “Also I’ve had years to get used to it, you’ve had mere minutes. Likely quite similar to how you are used to clothes constantly touching your skin.”

Michael reconsidered the dash in his mind that KITT had given him with those words. He had felt when KITT had set it up, so began resorting things following the example. Cameras in the ‘eyes’ category, pressure sensors as skin, air sensors as smell and taste, and of course the microphones as sound. He left the driving part as the dash however, uncertain just how to translate that to something like walking. Once again he felt something akin to approval from KITT. The sensors didn’t feel as odd once linked to their proper senses, but were still stronger than anything a human could feel. He could tell what cologne Devon was wearing, and even get a faint whiff of what he knew was KITT’s interior. 

Devon moved to the open door and leaned in, looking Michael’s interior over. It wasn’t quite as crowded as KITT’s dash, but it still wasn’t standard. “May I?”

“I wouldn’t have opened my door otherwise.” That earned Michael a soft snort of laughter as Devon settled into his seat easily. Some of the sensors under touch suddenly flooded in and he realized he could tell exactly what temperature he was, how fast his heart was beating, every little shift of movement as he settled into place. It was almost as if he was pressing his whole self against Devon’s back, yet it still was only a fraction of his input. 

His engine hiccuped again, which earned him an eyebrow raise. “What did I do to deserve that?” Devon trailed fingers along the edge of the seat, showing he knew _exactly_ what he did. He turned his attention to the dash and the voice modulator. He lightly tapped it, causing a sharp feedback against a mic. Ah, so that’s what made KITT so sensitive there, it was a bit like an ear. 

“Devon…” It was meant to sound like a warning, but he couldn’t help the slight tremor in his voice. Michael would have had goosebumps from that if he had been human.

“The blue lights fit you just as much as the red paint job.” Devon’s hands moved to the steering wheel, and Michael could feel the soft pressure of his touch. It acted as another spot for biometric feedback too, echoing what he could feel in the seat.

The touches were distracting. He knew he was going to be mostly driving himself, but he couldn’t help the tiny bit of curiosity on what Devon would feel like controlling him. He was really starting to see what KITT saw in this. “ _You_ wanted to match my eyes.” 

“That I did.” Devon’s eyebrow lifted slightly and gave a firm stroke to the wheel. Michael mentally cursed. Sure he was more digital now but his brain still worked on involuntary responses. Devon could hear the distraction and interest in his voice.

There was a loud “Ahem,” from the doorway to the garage. “Before you get too far into whatever this is, I need to do a diagnostics check.” Bonnie crossed her arms, clipboard dangling from her hand, looking equal parts amused and annoyed. “The doctors say your body is adjusting just fine, Michael.”

“Glad to hear. Wouldn’t want to be stuck like this.” Michael kept the hitch out of his voice as Devon got up, the shifting of pressure another new sensation altogether. Really, after all this was done they’d have to take a long moment before putting him back. “No offense, KITT.”

“None taken.” Michael could feel a tendril of amusement from KITT’s direction. Hell, he probably could pick up on his mental twitches even if Devon couldn’t hear them.

He suddenly realized Bonnie had to sit in the seat next, and felt uncomfortable. Not that he hadn’t ever thought of her like that. In fact he had flirted nearly the whole first year he knew her until he got the point she wasn’t interested. He actively turned his voicebox off and talked directly to KITT. ‘ _Is this normal? What do I do?_ ’

There was a flutter of laughter against his circuitry. ‘ _It is a bit like a medical exam. Do you find the doctor asking you to turn your head and cough hot?_ ’ There was a short pause before KITT sighed. ‘ _Don’t answer that._ ’

So his answer would be ‘depends on the doctor’ so sue him, but he still got the general gist and just tried his best to disconnect the feelings from his mind. Thankfully, as a computer that was a lot easier.

It also helped that Bonnie was no-nonsense and just dropped into the seat like it wasn’t any sort of deal at all. She looked over a few things on his dash visually, checking a few things on the sheet, before reaching down to plug a diagnostic cable into the dash. That lit up something far different in his mind and he nearly turned it off out of reaction. He protested in silence for half a second before remembering to turn his voice back on. “What are you _doing_?”

Bonnie looked up, confused, at one of his cameras. “...I’m running a standard diagnostic.” She shook her head and went back to the small device in hand. “I suppose there isn’t a human equivalent to it.” She tapped a couple of buttons and as the program ran Michael felt oddly invaded. KITT offered a feeling of sympathy and reassurement, but it was still uncomfortable. He supposed it was a bit like a doctor’s visit after all. She nodded absently to herself as she made a few more marks on the clipboard. Michael could read it with one of his internal cameras, but really couldn’t make heads or tails of the jargon on it. After what felt like an excruciating amount of time, that his internal clock refuted as mere minutes, Bonnie patted his dash and unplugged the device. “All done. Looks like you meshed well with the machine.”

As she climbed out, Michael let out a sigh of relief. He quickly covered for himself at her eyebrow raise. “Glad to hear it! I’d hate to have to do this all over again.”

She rolled her eyes and tapped the machine in her hand. “Your ‘code’ is surprisingly similar to KITT’s, which speaks volumes for the future of AIs.” She turned to smile at KITT. “This research could prove you’re a sentient being and maybe actually grant you some legal rights to person-ship.” Then the smile lost a bit of shine as she looked at the machine again. “And prove that humans are programmable…” She hefted a heavy sigh as she walked towards the workbench. “I _hate_ when morals get caught up in science.”

“If it helps ease your mind, I don’t mind where I am at, at the moment. While I may not be able to hold anything in my name I’ve been rather lucky on who my benefactors are. Perhaps in a few more years if there ever becomes more AIs like myself you’ll have to make the decision then.” KITT’s voice betrayed nothing, but Michael knew there was a tiny bit of wishful feeling under all of that.

He’d have to ask Devon if it was feasible, but maybe they could create an identity for KITT like they did for him. KITT wouldn’t even have to be places in person, a lot of business was done over the phone now-a-days. If Michael was still human he might have colored slightly at the reminder of KITT’s recent series of gifts. He certainly had to keep his engine from rolling over that was for sure. And if KITT could just buy things or sign up for catalogs all on his own, without help… Well, all the better for him, right?

“Thanks KITT.” Bonnie started to plug the diagnostic equipment into the computer setup. “But this is out of my hands. This scientist that you’re protecting, it’s his research and data in the end.”


End file.
